As North Korea heats up, South Korea and Japan should warm ties
Christian Science Monitor

Cooperation on missile defense between South Korea and Japan would help blunt threats from North Korea. But Japanese officials’ recent insensitivity to Imperial Japan’s painful role in World War II, including forcing South Koreans to become ‘comfort women,’ works against cooperation.

U.S. lawmakers lambaste Japan’s mayor over view on ‘comfort women’
Yonhap News

Two U.S. congressmen strongly criticized an outspoken Japanese politician Wednesday for openly backing Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women during the World War II.

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto reportedly said earlier this week that pushing those women into sexual servitude was a military necessity. More than 200,000 young women from Japan’s colonies are said to have been forced to serve as “comfort women,” an euphemistic expression.

“Mayor Hashimoto’s remarks that comfort women were ‘necessary’ are contemptible and repulsive,” Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement with Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY).

SKorean women scoff at fired Park aide’s claim ‘cultural difference’ behind touching scandal
Associated Press via Washington Post

A South Korean presidential spokesman who was fired after inappropriately touching a woman during a U.S. trip blames a “cultural difference” with America. Other South Koreans say the fault for such incidents truly lies with a society that allows powerful men to get away with harassment.

Five months after the country elected its first female leader, Park Geun-hye, last week’s incident involving her spokesman Yoon Chang-jung marred her first trip to Washington as president. It also highlighted the gender divide that remains in South Korea, where women say they get paid less than men and are given fewer promotions.

There’s an “unspoken consensus” among influential South Korean men that they can avoid punishment for sexual harassment, office worker Joo Insun said. She added that a former employer responded to her own claims of a colleague’s misbehavior by scrutinizing her instead.

Man Sentenced For Throwing Fatal Beach Party Punch
NBC Chicago

A Chicago man was sentenced Thursday morning in connection with a beach party fight that turned deadly.

James Malecek, 19, waived his right to a trial and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

A judge accepted the plea agreement, and Malecek will serve 145 days in jail beginning July 1.

Malecek punched Mt. Carmel high school student Kevin Kennelly during a July Fourth disturbance in Long Beach, Ind., in 2011.

Korean group petitions schools over textbook
Bergen County Record (N.J.)

The Korean-American Association of New Jersey is making a push for school districts with large Korean student populations to use textbooks that refer to the Sea of Japan as the East Sea as well.

The association recently presented Fort Lee school officials with a petition signed by members of the Korean-American community. Similar requests by individuals acting on behalf of the Korean-American community were made to Leonia and Palisades Park officials, said association Vice President Sonny Kim. More than 1,500 signatures of residents from the three towns were collected, he said.

“We knew it as East Sea, and we want our children to learn the correct term,” said Kim, who immigrated to the United States at age 4. “To us Korean-Americans, the correct name is East Sea.”

CD 13 Debate: Mitch O’Farrell Says John Choi ‘Foments’ Racial Division
Patch.com (Los Angeles)

The two candidates for the Los Angeles City Council District 13 seat met one last time Tuesday in the Elysian Valley.

Choi’s ability to represent beyond the local was his big theme. O’Farrell emphasized his proven experience working in the Council District 13 boundaries.

The campaign has become rough these last few weeks, with Choi accusing O’Farrell of voter fraud and O’Farrell focusing on Choi’s ties to labor and machine politics.

Once down on their luck, Washingtonville deli owners on rebound
Times Herald-Record (Middletown, N.Y.)

After losing their business and their home to the recession, the owners of the closed Lim’s Deli in Blooming Grove have reopened at a new location, this time in a tiny renovated building behind a sushi restaurant off West Main Street.

The new venture was made possible thanks to the support of a community that refused to see the couple, who gave out free coffee and breakfast sandwiches to those in need, put out on the street.

“Everybody came together, one helping hand led to another, and now it’s finally open,” said Lucille Cimorelli, who provided Yeon Suk Choi and her husband, Chun Suk Lim, the 450-square-foot building they now lease from her for a fraction of their former rent.

The gathering place features an upbeat name — Rainbow Deli — and a few new menu items, including a Korean Bulgogi wrap. Choi’s wise counsel, sympathetic ear and compassion, which won her many loyal customers over the years, are free, as always.

South Korea’s PSY to co-host MuchMusic Video Awards
CTV News (Canada)

The MuchMusic Video Awards are going “Gangnam Style.”

The music station has signed on South Korean pop star Psy as co-host and performer for the MMVAs bash in Toronto on June 16.

MuchMusic says the “Gangnam Style” singer will be making his live Canadian television hosting and performance debut at the street-level show that’s known for its wild antics.

Psy to perform on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ (American version)
allkpop

In the previous season of America’s “Dancing With The Stars“, the contestants performed Psy‘s worldwide hit, “Gangnam Style“. However, in the current season, we’ll get to see Psy perform live as the show enters its final weeks of competition later this month!

According to YG Entertainment, Psy will be performing “Gentleman” on the 21st’s episode to cheer on all the finalists remaining on the broadcast airing through ABC.

Hyun-Jin Ryu plays catch with young Dodgers fan in the stands (Video)
Yahoo Sports

Here’s a pretty cool scene that we don’t see every day: Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Korean pitcher imported by the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, playing catch with a kid in the stands during batting practice.

The young fan goes by the name of Deuce, and he’s a regular in the Dodgers left field pavilion. (And he’s got a pretty good arm, huh?) Deuce’s future trips to the stadium won’t be as cool as this one. According to Dodgerfilms, who captured and posted the video, the pair played catch for about five minutes until batting practice ended.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and champion figure skater Yuna Kim appeals for the children of Syria
Unicef.org

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Olympic Gold Medallist and world champion figure skater Yuna Kim today made a heartfelt appeal for support for the children of conflict-torn Syria.

In a 30-second video message Kim, a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 2010, calls on viewers to, “Help UNICEF help the children of Syria.”

The Queen is Back

Kim Yuna returns to the world stage, after 19 months away from competitive skating, and shows everyone—including herself—she just may be on the road to her second Olympic gold.

story and photographs by MARK EDWARD HARRIS

Some 500 sports journalists from around the world — I among them — descended upon London in Ontario, Canada, last month for the 2013 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. All of us were jostling for coverage of the most important skating event in the period leading up to the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, next year.

One of the main attractions, of course, was reigning Olympic champion Kim Yuna, the elegant South Korean skater who three years earlier had come to Canada, carrying the dreams of a nation excited by the prospect of Korea capturing its first Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating. The pressure on the lithe skater’s shoulders, going into the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, was intense and palpable. But Kim would surpass her countrymen’s expectations by not only winning the gold, but also skating perfect routines before a dazzled world audience.

Last month, Queen Yuna, as she is dubbed in Korea, was facing a different kind of pressure, however. The period after the Olympics had been rocky. She parted ways with her then-coach Brian Orser and skipped the entire 2011-12 season. After training in Los Angeles under American coach Peter Oppegard, she left him last year and returned to Korea to train with her childhood coaches, Shin Hye-sook and Ryu Jong-hyeon. Last July she announced that she wanted to return to competition and to skate in the 2014 Winter Olympics. But many speculated whether Kim’s competitive skating career was over; she had been away from this arena for 19 months, after all. Continue Reading »

North Korea Calls Hawaii and U.S. Mainland Targets
New York Times

North Korea’s military said it put all its missile and artillery units on “the highest alert” on Tuesday, ordering them to be ready to hit South Korea, as well as the United States and its military installations in Hawaii and Guam.

The threat from the North’s Korean People’s Army Supreme Command came only hours after President Park Geun-hye of South Korea warned that the North Korean leadership could ensure its survival only when it abandons its nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, provocations and threats.

North Korea said on Tuesday that all of its strategic rocket and long-range artillery units “are assigned to strike bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zones in the Pacific as well as all the enemy targets in South Korea and its vicinity.”

North Korea Is Running Out of Threats
Wall Street Journal

When North Korea tosses out another threat of violence against one of its neighbors or the U.S., it’s become routine to describe it as an escalation of Pyongyang’s rhetoric.

That description captures the fact that North Korea makes a lot of threats without following through. But is there a point where it’s not even appropriate to call new threats an escalation?

South Korea Remembers Cheonan Sinking
Wall Street Journal

Memorial events are being held on Tuesday in South Korea to mark the 3rd anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan.

In the night of March 26, 2010, the ship exploded into two parts and sank in the Yellow Sea, leaving 40 sailors dead and 6 missing, presumed dead. An international investigation found North Korea responsible for torpedoing the ship, something that Pyongyang still denies.

On Tuesday morning, President Park Geun-hye visited the National Cemetery in Daejeon and urged the North to end its provocative behavior.

Filial Pity: Is South Korea Doing Enough to Stop Elderly Suicides?
TIME.com

The Korea Suicide Prevention Center has a message for the people of South Korea: “Life is precious! We can protect it.” The slogan, displayed in pamphlets, placards and on its website, is meant to encourage people to seek help if they are feeling suicidal.

Kenneth Choi Joins NBC Pilot ‘Ironside’
Deadline Hollywood

In what would be his first series regular role, Kenneth Choi (Sons Of Anarchy, Glee, 24) has been cast in NBC’s drama pilot Ironside, a reboot of the 1967 series. Written by Mike Caleo and directed by Peter Horton, it centers on Robert T. Ironside (Blair Underwood), a tough, sexy and acerbic police detective relegated to a wheelchair after a shooting who is hardly limited by his disability as he pushes and prods his hand-picked team to solve the most difficult cases.

Choi will play Captain Ed Rollins, Ironside’s supervisor. Despite their push/pull relationship Ed and Ironside have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for each other. Choi, repped by Mosaic, TalentWorks and attorney Derek Kroeger, was recently seen in Captain America 2 and next co-stars in Wolf Of Wall Street.

Stars in Court Over Michael Jackson Killer Drug
Chosun Ilbo

Three actresses who appeared in court on Monday on charges of abusing the anesthetic Propofol, which became famous for killing Michael Jackson.

Lawyers for Jang Mi-inae said prosecutors failed to recognize the need for people in her profession to undergo painful treatments in order to maintain their beauty. Jang denies the charges, claiming she was given Propofol to numb the pain associated with Carboxytherapy, which involves injections of carbon dioxide gas into the skin to kill fat cells and improve elasticity.

Her lawyer said the actress tried exercising to lose weight but that failed, so she sought medical help.

Reds expect new leading man Choo to star in Cincy
MLB.com

Not only is the 30-year-old Choo capable of getting on first base to set the table for Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto and the rest of the order, he can just as easily make it a 1-0 game after one at-bat. He’s also more than capable of driving in runs if men in the bottom third of the order reach base.

“A lot of leadoff hitters run and steal bases. I’m not that type of player,” Choo said. “I have home run power and can do damage. I always think, wherever I hit, I will do the same thing. I’m not going to change. That’s what I’ve proved with my numbers. If I see a good first pitch, I will swing. If I take a walk or get hit by a pitch — there are a lot of options to get to first base.”

Choo batted .283 with 16 home runs, 67 RBIs and 21 steals in 155 games last season for Cleveland. He also struck out 150 times. But in 99 games as the leadoff hitter, he batted .310 with a .389 on-base percentage. Lifetime, regardless of his spot in the order, his OBP is .381.

Fans Get a Chance to See Kim Yu-na Up Close and Personal
Chosun Ilbo

About 400 fans got to see Korea’s figure skating queen up close and personal on Monday during an event at COEX in Samseong-dong, Gangnam, south of the Han River. Fresh off her victory at the World Championships, Kim Yu-na revealed some of her superstitions and quirky habits to an enthralled crowd.

“Many skaters think that it’s propitious to put the right skate on first, and so do I,” said Kim. She explained that when she puts the left one on first absentmindedly, she takes off both skates and starts over.

Far from home country, Koreans in Chile carry on traditions
Yonhap News

Almost all of the tables are occupied this afternoon in Sukine, a small diner, and the air is filled with a confusion of languages. A party of British tourists near the window is enjoying a bowl of chili paste fried pork — the house favorite. At a smaller table nearby, a Korean woman and her two daughters have just given their order to a young Chilean waiter. A couple that just sat down is studying a large menu on the wall with images of over 20 specialties, from kimchi stew to rice cakes in spicy paste, while behind the register, an older Korean woman is nonchalantly flipping through the pages of a newspaper.

This restaurant in the Patronato neighborhood of Santiago, the capital of Chile, seems to be the point where the Korean community and mainstream Chilean society intersect. Trendy among Chilean youth and a source of comfort food for Korean residents, Sukine is a vibrant example of how Koreans here adhere to the traditions of their homeland while adapting to those of their adopted country. Except for the diced South American hot peppers, the food is authentic; hidden within the kitchen, though, is a Peruvian chef.

Kakao Talk Unveils Trial Version for PCs
Chosun Ilbo

Kakao Talk, the hugely popular free mobile messaging app, has expanded to personal computers with a trial version released Tuesday. Traditional instant messaging giants are on alert as their users might move to the new service.

“We received more than 210,000 applications for testing the trial service ahead of the official launch,” Kakao said on Monday. “We will allow 10,000 people to try the service for a couple of months and then officially release it around May.”

North Korea issues fresh threat to U.S., South probes hacking
Reuters

North Korea said it would attack U.S. military bases on Japan and the Pacific island of Guam if provoked, a day after leader Kim Jong-un oversaw a mock drone strike on South Korea.

The North also held an air raid drill on Thursday after accusing the United States of preparing a military strike using bombers that have overflown the Korean peninsula as part of drills between South Korean and U.S. forces.

North Korea has stepped up its rhetoric in response to what it calls “hostile” drills between South Korea and the United States. It has also been angered by the imposition of fresh U.N. sanctions that followed its February 12 nuclear test.

South Korea Says Chinese Code Used in Computer Attack
Bloomberg

The biggest cyberattack on South Korean computers in two years used malware code from China, according to an initial investigation that is focusing on possible links to North Korea.

Around 32,000 servers were damaged in yesterday’s attack on broadcasters and banks, the Korea Communications Commission said today in a statement. President Park Geun Hye set up a team to investigate whether North Korea is responsible, after computer shutdowns hit companies including Shinhan Bank (1558), Nonghyup Bank, Munhwa Broadcasting Corp., YTN and Korea Broadcasting System.

Was N.Korea Behind Wednesday’s Cyber Attack?
Chosun Ilbo

It is unclear who was responsible for a massive cyber attack on major broadcasters and banks in South Korea on Wednesday, but authorities say there is a strong chance that North Korea was behind it.

Government officials here believe no individual hacker could have launched such a major attack, and the modus operandi points to the North. North Korea launched so-called denial of service attacks in 2009 and 2011 aimed at major South Korean websites.

Major North Korean websites including the state-run Rodong Sinmun daily and broadcaster KCNA apparently suffered connection failures on March 13 and 14 after being hit by a hacking attack. A key government official here confirmed that the North was indeed hit by a cyber attack but the source was unknown.

Why cyberattacks are the logical North Korean weapon
Christian Science Monitor

Suspicion for yesterday’s cyberattack quickly fell on North Korea. Cyberwarfare gives North Korea the chance to inflict damages on a militarily superior foe, without having to own the responsibility.

Hollywood’s Changing Its Movies to Appease the Chinese? Good
The Atlantic

This month’s gross-out college comedy 21 and Over is the kind of no-hype, no-stars box-office blip that usually passes through movie theaters without much notice except from bored teenagers at mall cineplexes. But the film was noticed—not for being the first comedy since the Harold and Kumar series to feature an Asian-American character with depth and screen time, but because the film’s Chinese producers demanded changes to the script and a different cut of the film for their country’s box office.

In fact, the influx of Chinese cash into Hollywood has opened up a new niche beat for some journalists detailing the edits Chinese financiers require. The individual stories—of changing Looper’s future global capital from Paris to (a more-plausible) Shanghai, of cutting risqué scenes from Cloud Atlas and Skyfall, of deleting a single line from Life of Pi so as not to anger devout moviegoers—are, of course, fascinating. But taken in their totality, the press’s coverage of Chinese censorship of big-studio products has a certain doomsaying quality. A Los Angeles Times reporter writes, for example, that “the net effect [of Chinese influence] is a situation that movie-business veterans say is unprecedented: The suppressive tendencies of a foreign nation are altering what is seen not just in one country but around the world.” Unmentioned is the United States’ own history of government censorship of its films, as well as the progressive outcomes that will result from yuan-financed filmmaking.

North Korean documentary tries transmedia trends
Yonhap News

When Toronto filmmaker Ann Shin screened her riveting documentary “The Defector: Escape from North Korea” last November, she received acclaim for crossing a border that few filmmakers dare to go — the technological border, that is.

Shin and her small crew of a camera operator and sound technician followed an agent called “Dragon” from the North Korea-China border all the way to Bangkok with refugees who had high hopes for a better life in South Korea. In an entirely new approach, Shin adopted new, innovative technology to compliment her documentary project, like 360 degree animations and an interactive web site as well as a Facebook app.

In the Defector Interactive (http://experience.thedefectormovie.com/), launched on Feb. 15, users can take a 10-minute haunting interactive journey through the eyes of a woman desperately attempting to escape North Korea.

TOKiMONSTA Remixes Justin Timberlake’s “Suit & Tie” (Stream)
Prefix Mag

The Justin Timberlake love continues. This time around Los Angeles’ uber-talented producer TOKiMONSTA took JT’s new breezy pop single “Suit & Tie” single and twisted some knobs adding some popping bass and a handful of interesting electronic and vocal effects. It’s much more aggressive with the drum beats and would be a hit in a club setting. The take on the track almost sounds like what the single could’ve sounded like if Justin wanted to bring sexy back.

Complete Korean cosmetics shopping guide
CNN Travel

With the world’s biggest obsession with plastic surgery and some of the fastest-evolving beauty technology, spas and cosmetic lines in the world, South Korea is a bona fide beauty destination.

According to a government survey, the items tourists want to purchase the most while visiting are Korean beauty products.

With good reason. Korean cosmetic brands introduce products made from exotic ingredients seemingly every month — Jeju Island volcanic clay, soybeans, traditional Korean medicine and, of course, snail guts.

Kim Yu-na and Denis Ten dazzle at figure skating worlds
Sports Illustrated

With her victory at the World Figure Skating Championships in London, Ont., South Korea’s Kim Yu-na not only proved that she could come back, but she also re-established herself as perhaps the most dominant athlete in an individual winter Olympic sport. Her margin of victory at worlds was 20.42 points, the largest gap since the ISU adopted the current system of scoring in 2004. (Kim had won the Olympics in Vancouver by a margin of 18.34.)

“She is in another world right now,” said Carolina Kostner, the Italian silver medalist. And Kostner wasn’t just a weak entrant bringing up the rear; she was the world champion in 2012, when Kim was still on her break from figure skating. To look at it another way, Kim’s winning margin in London was greater than the point differential between Kostner and China’s Li Zijun in seventh place. Granted its status as a sport entails that it be judged, an appreciation for it demands more than quantification. The aesthetic is harder to define.

“The thing about Kim,” U.S. national champ Ashley Wagner says, “is that she has this ability to tell a story and take you with her. It’s so clean from start to finish.”

Shin-Soo Choo misses fifth straight game with back spasms
NBC Sports

As if moving to center field at age 30 after never playing the position regularly before wasn’t challenging enough for Shin-Soo Choo now he’s dealing with a back injury.

Choo is out of the Reds’ lineup today for the fifth straight game with back spasms and manager Dusty Baker seemed unsure about his return timetable when talking to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer:

“We’d like to get him in within a week of starting [the regular season], but you don’t know. We’re trying not to have any setbacks, because that’ll make it worse. When it comes to back spasms and the back, you’re just guessing. We just don’t want him to have any setbacks.”

Wyoming outdoors: Trip hooks Korean student on fly fishing
Billings Gazette (Montana)

Have you ever shared in a person’s joy of a momentous event? Have you been lifted up by that person’s unfettered happiness and elation? If you have, you can identify with the experience I had last Friday.

I had volunteered to take a young Korean student, Taesub Kim, fly-fishing. Taesub is a nursing student at Sheridan College and has been a valuable asset to the college, community and his church. Taesub is an extremely talented pianist and has enthralled many people with his concerts and adds a wonderful accompaniment to the choir at Holy Name Church.

Our pastor, Father Jim Heiser, and music director, Mark Sonderby, thought that it would be a fitting reward to have Taesub go fishing. So they asked me if I would teach Taesub to fly-fish and take him on a fishing trip on the Bighorn River.

Analysts worry that NKorean nuke test signals willingness to sell atomic material, expertise
AP via Washington Post

North Korea’s nuclear test last month wasn’t just a show of defiance and national pride; it also serves as advertising. The target audience, analysts say, is anyone in the world looking to buy nuclear material.

Though Pyongyang has threatened to launch nuclear strikes on the U.S., the most immediate threat posed by its nuclear technology may be North Korea’s willingness to sell it to nations that Washington sees as sponsors of terrorism. The fear of such sales was highlighted this week, when Japan confirmed that cargo seized last year and believed to be from North Korea contained material that could be used to make nuclear centrifuges, which are crucial to enriching uranium into bomb fuel.

The dangerous message North Korea is sending, according to Graham Allison, a nuclear expert at the Harvard Kennedy School: “Nukes are for sale.”

China Cites Risk of New Tension as U.S. Bolsters Missile Defenses
New York Times

China said Monday that the United States’ decision to strengthen antimissile defenses in response to threats from North Korea risked deepening regional tensions, underscoring Beijing’s caution on further pressuring the North despite its third nuclear test.

Earlier this month, China backed a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing banking, trade and travel sanctions on North Korea after it held the test on Feb. 12.

China’s warning was in response to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s announcement on Friday that the Pentagon would spend $1 billion to put in place more ballistic missile interceptors to counter the growing reach of North Korea’s weapons.

63-year-old Sookja Kim struck, killed on Mosholu Parkway
News 12 (Bronx, N.Y.)

Police are investigating after a 63-year-old woman was struck and killed in the middle of Mosholu Parkway.

According to authorities, a 22-year-old man was driving near Bainbridge Avenue when he hit Sookja Kim at around 4 p.m. Sunday. She was rushed to Saint Barnabas Hospital, but pronounced dead on arrival.

The K-Pop effect: South Korea’s obsession with beauty
World News Australia

I generally tend to take sweeping statements about a populace with a bucket of salt. Before I left for South Korea, one of my colleagues (himself of Korean descent) had this warning for me: “They’re very superficial,” he said, shaking his head in dismay. “They’re completely obsessed with looks.”

He told me tales of the schoolgirls who would get given plastic surgery as graduation gifts; the mother-daughter teams that would cash in on the two-for-one clinic discounts; the pervasive desire to ‘look more western’. Nicole Kidman, he said, with her high nose, big eyes, slim jaw and white skin was considered the pinnacle of beauty.

In reality, that pinnacle is much closer to home and it’s shaping a generation with a penchant for plastic.

The Walking Dead: Steven Yeun Goes Sockless On Jimmy Kimmel
ComicBook.com

On Monday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn on The Walking Dead, was a guest. After Steven Yeun walked out, Jimmy Kimmel said his suit looked nice but he also pointed out that Yeun wasn’t wearing socks.

Steven Yeun said, “Yes, this is a point of contention for a lot of people.” When Kimmel asked for who, Yeun replied, “Mostly just people who hate ankles.” Yeun added, “You know why I wear this, it’s actually pretty funny, it is comfortable, the ankle stuff is actually really comfortable, because you’re free.” Yeaun went on to explain that he was wearing the suit at the request of his father, because his dad wanted him to put his best foot forward at all times.

Psy’s Title Trouble
Wall Street Journal

After the ridiculous success of “Gangnam Style,” one of Psy’s next tracks is already creating a buzz—for controversial reasons.

The tuxedoed rapper wrote on a South Korean social-networking site Monday that he plans to change both the title of the song “Assarabia” and the lyrics of its chorus. He didn’t say why, but a spokesman for his record label YG Entertainment 122870.KQ +2.73%, said it was because the word is hard for non-Korean speakers to pronounce. (In Korean, “assarabia” indicates excitement.)

The explanation hasn’t convinced some in the media; a tweet from Voice of America’s Seoul bureau chief noted that some people in the Middle East might find the title offensive.

CAAMFest 2013 Interviews: Deann Borshay Liem and Ramsay Liem of ‘Memory of Forgotten War’
Hyphen Magazine

Suntae Chun cannot forget. Or, rather, will not forget.

“June 24th was a Saturday,” Chun recalls without hesitation. “I was a member of the swimming team. So whole school went to picnic. Twenty-seven of us went to Ongmyon Reservoir … We spend evening swimming.” We see a black and white photo of a youthful Chun and his teammates languidly posing in their swim trunks. “Next morning,” however, “big war broke out.”

“And then,” Minyong Lee adds, “everything fell apart.”

That war, and the countless lives and families that fell apart as a result, is the focus of the documentary Memory of Forgotten War. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem and professor emeritus at Boston College (and Borshay Liem’s brother-in-law) Ramsay Liem, Memory of Forgotten War features four elderly Korean American immigrants — Chun, Lee, Hee Bok Kim, and Kee Park — all of whom vividly remember a war officially designated in the U.S. as “forgotten.” Indeed, their harrowing stories of death, separation, persecution, and immigration tumble forth with startling clarity and tense emotion, offering an intimate look at a divided nation caught in the throes of a Cold War that never thawed, a Korean War that never ended.

S. Korean soap opera hugely popular in Cuba
Yonhap News via GlobalPost

A comical South Korean soap opera about the daily lives of a couple and their neighbors has become hugely popular in Cuba, according to Korean officials there.

Cubans are glued to their TV sets when the drama “Queen of Housewives” is broadcast on the state-run TV Canal Habana four times a week, according Korean officials at the Havana office of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

The 2009 MBC mini-series that began airing on Feb. 26 was the first Korean drama ever to be shown in the Caribbean nation.

Hank Conger’s throwing woes prompt Angels to go shopping
Los Angeles Times

Sail a few throws into left field, bounce a few to second base, and suddenly there’s a new guy in the clubhouse poised to take your job.

That’s the cold, hard reality for Angels catcher Hank Conger, whose throwing woes prompted the Angels to sign veteran catcher Chris Snyder to a minor league deal Monday, a move that will probably push Conger, a first-round pick in 2006, to triple-A Salt Lake, where he has spent most of the last three years.

“I’ve learned that nothing is really handed to you, whether it’s a starting or backup job,” Conger, 25, said. “It’s been tough. You don’t want to feel like you’re letting a lot of people down.”

Reds’ Shin-Soo Choo not concerned by his missed time
Cincinnati Enquirer

Shin-Soo Choo hasn’t played since Friday because of back spasms, but the Reds center fielder doesn’t see any reason for concern at this point.

“There’s no reason to push it right now,” Choo said. “It’s spring training. If it were the regular season, I wouldn’t be missing games right now, I’d be playing. But right now, there’s no reason to take any chances.”

With just two weeks until Opening Day, Choo said he’d be ready in time for the start of the season. While Choo hasn’t had serious problems with his back before, he said he has had some tightness in his back before. He said he woke up with pain in his back on Saturday morning and hasn’t played since. However, every day since the first day, it has improved.

After Worlds, Kim Yu-na Is Already Thinking About Olympics
Chosun Ilbo

Kim Yu-na, the reigning Olympic and world champion in ladies’ figure skating, sported a black suit, tie and fedora during the exhibition gala of the 2013 World Championships in London, Ontario, Canada on Monday. She appeared 22nd out of 24 skaters and was greeted with thunderous applause before skating to “All of Me” by Michael Buble.

But Kim won’t have much time to bask in the spotlight and returns home on Wednesday to begin preparations for the Sochi Olympics after some rest. She seems likely to renew her contract with current coaches Shin Hye-sook and Ryu Jong-hyun.

“I feel comfortable with them since they’ve been coaching me since I was young,” Kim said.

Gov’t to Expand Grandmother Babysitting Program
KBS World

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will expand a program that pays elderly women to babysit their grandchildren.

Following a KBS report on the program last week, the ministry has decided to implement the program in other regions of the nation from the second half of this year.

Under the program, elderly women will receive 400-thousand won monthly from the government if they babysit grandchildren 12 months old or younger for ten hours a day. The program will benefit families of two working parents with at least two children.

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